Nice. The 4g module is $17.90 from digikey, much less than last time I looked. I wonder if there's a 5g version. I also wonder if there's any issue using retail sim cards and making LTE voice calls.
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2026
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the reddit discussion is interesting
Any particular reason?
The actual problem isn't at all making a 4G mini-computer: you can literally buy the necessary parts as modules and wire them together with a a half-way decent microcontroller board and an smallish LED display and then make some code for it in something like Arduino IDE (though I would recommend Platform IO + VS Code instead).
The problem is making it small (especially thin) and capable of running of batteries for days rather than hours.
For example, if you're trying to actually solve the hard part of the problem you would be better of using a micro-controller with an ARM core rather than the ESP32 as those things are designed to use less power. Also you wouldn't be able to use boards as those things usually waste power versus designing your own.
That said, it's a nice hobbyist project.
Why are people so pissed at this FelixCress guy? He is just wrong, there is no need to debate.
I'm personally not pissed but I'm not sure if they're missing something or not. Or just old fashioned ragebaiting. If it's ragebaiting, they got me.
Because Felix is wrong and hates technology and the people who make it.
They probably hate Linux and being a vegan queer furry too.
I am really interested in where this project goes.
ESP32 projects are low powered. Not everything needs 5G and the latest Snapdragon.
Esp32 isnt really known for being low powered when talking about modules like these in general, quite the opposite really.
Nrf and others are better alternatives
Is hackster.io any good for tech news? And is it more of a general tech news site or more specialized?
And if so, any good software/hardware hacking site aside hackaday?
There must have been a phone marketed as ePhone before now?
If not maybe try Espressone
Are ESP32 secure enough to have them directly on the internets?
It depends on the code you run on it, really. A lot of the time, too, 4G will be behind CG-NAT which at least means the listening ports aren't automatically on the internet.
How's RISC doing these days...
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